1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a method for providing at least one secured service via a security module of a franking machine for at least one procedure for data processing that is executed on a data processing device that can be connected with the franking machine, of the type wherein a request is made in the procedure for the secured service from the security module and the security module provides the secured service following the request. The invention furthermore concerns a corresponding arrangement providing a secured service, a corresponding franking machine, a corresponding data processing device as well as corresponding procedure for data processing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Franking machines today are normally equipped with a security module containing the postal register, which effects or documents the billing for frankings and executes a portion of the somewhat complex calculations for generation of the respective franking imprint. A number of mail carriers require cryptographic protection of a portion of the imprinted data, so that the security module is frequently designed as a certified cryptography module of somewhat complicated design.
The scope of services of the franking machine is in principle reflected in the scope of services of the security module (not least for reasons of manufacturing costs). A security module with only a lesser scope of services thus is normally required in a franking machine with a lesser scope of services, while in more robust franking machines security modules with a greater scope of services (greater computing capacity, greater storage capacity) are typically used.
In contrast, with regard to the normally required certification of the security modules it is desirable to use optimally few different security modules in order to keep the expenditure for the certification as low as possible.
For example, in order to compensate or, respectively, absorb the negative (with regard to the production costs) effect of the equipment of a franking machine with a complicated security module, U.S. Pat. No. 5,796,841 (Cordery et al.) proposes to use the security module for further secured services such as, for example, the management (generation, verification, recall etc.) of digital certificates. It is proposed to connect the security module of a franking machine with a predetermined PC that then requests the corresponding secured services from the security module and also receives these services insofar as sufficient credit is present in the registers of the security module. It is hereby disadvantageous that the execution of the secured services is connected only to the PC, such that the capacities of the security module (in particular with regard to possible additional security aspects) are not exploited.